Anniya

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The girl woke up early in the morning. She had always gone to bed late at night and woken up and Dawn. The little sleep she got didn't seem to affect her personality. Moodily, she dug through the ration bags and searched for some vegetables, or something that she could make a decent meal out of . Men. Think they'll survive on meat alone she thought to herself. Shaking her head, she boiled some water and dumped the remaining rations. This should be interesting she thought as the water angrily boiled, bubbling over the rusted pot.

" What have you got boiling there?" a knight asked.

" Something that smells just like you." the girl snapped back. The Knight looked surprised. " Why, ye can talk after all!" he exclaimed.

The girl tossed back her hair, glaring at him.

" What did you think I was, mute?" The Knight just stared at her.

" Are ye feeling alright, milady? You go a month and some days without saying a word, and one morning you start jabbering away like a mocking bird." She glared at him and poured her soup out into a crude bowl and began drinking it. It's not that bad the girl thought. Then again, there's only so far you can lie to yourself. She spat it out. What had she put in there besides moldy potatoes? Poison? Not that she actually wanted to know.

" Would ye like some of this centaur leg?" she glanced at it.

" How old is that?" the Knight briefly looked at it.

" A couple days , I reckon."

" Why is there a big, fat maggot right there?" The Knight looked closely at it.

" Oh. This is miladies problem." he smiled at her and flicked the white blob off, as if it would make all the difference.

" Alright now. Safe for eaten." He offered it to her. She shook her head.

" That's alright. I suppose I'll have to take this to your all high Prince."

" Ye are a sarcastic little thing." The girl ignored him, and walked over to where the Prince was sharpening his sword.

" I have nothing to eat." He glanced up at her impatiently, obviously annoyed. Then surprise took his face.

" You talked." She rolled her eyes.

" Yes, I do talk. I need food, not a voice at the current moment." The Prince looked around. " There's plenty of food around here. Take a glance around the camp." The girl sighed.

" I do not eat my friends. I am a vegetarian. And you do not have any fruit or vegetables with you."

" Hell, I don't know. Go dig in the woods or something. How should I know? I don't even know your name." he went back to sharpening his sword.

" It's going to stay that way. But if you want me to stay alive, then I need to eat!" Without looking up again, he said

" Take my stallion. Go do whatever you did to eat before we found you." The girl stamped her foot.

"That horse is an ugly goat and a giant combined! I won't last more then a moment on him!" the prince shrugged.

" Who knows? I'm offering you transportation. Take it or leave it." she didn't miss the satisfied smirk he had plastered on his face.

" How do you know I just won't steal the stallion?"

" One. You would of run away by now. Two. Night won't let himself be stolen. If anything, it'll be more the other way around." The girl rolled her eyes and stalked off without another word to the menacing stallion. Night happened to be one of the most valuable horses in Kellia for a few reasons. He was tall, he was powerful, he had centaur and unicorn blood in him, and he was a pure black monster, towering over every horse in the Kingdom. Not to mention he was the fastest in all of Kellia, Bast, Frell, and Ayathora. So the petite 5'2 girl was slightly intimidated by Night. Its ok. It is just an overgrown giant horse as large as the Prince's ego. Probably just as intelligent as him too. The girl told herself. She looked up at the menacing horse, and glared at it. " Listen, you overgrown pony. I am going to ride you and you are not going to throw me off, and if you do, you will pay." she threatened it. Timidly, she grabbed the reins and tried to hoist herself up. The horse whinnied, and threw her off with a simple shake of its head. The girl was thrown onto the dirt. The horse whinnied in delight.

" Funny. Very Funny." she told it, and moved toward it again. The horse walked away from her. " I take it back! You're ego is larger then the Princes! Do you think you're just too good for non royals to ride you!" The horse ignored her, and continued eating.

" You spoiled, arrogant, good for nothing donkey!" she said, exasperated. She heard laughter from one of the Knights.

" Given up yet?" asked one of the Knights, Sir Percival she thought. She clenched her fist and tried to ignore them. They thought she was going to give up. Well, I don't care if that horse likes it or not, I need some bloody transportation and that is exactly what I'm getting. Softly, she clucked her tongue, and held her closed fist out like she had a treat, hoping the horse would succumb to the trick. It worked. The giant beast raised its great head, and plundered back in her direction. As soon as he got close enough, she attacked. Leaping on to his great back, she secured her feet in the stirrups and grabbed on to the reins. Satisfied, she smiled. The horse didn't seem to react. She clucked her tongue. In a flash of a second, the horse took off, flying faster then a speeding arrow. The great beast rose on its hind legs, bucked several times, then sped at top speed through the forest. The girl clutched on to the reins, hanging on for dear life.

" Slow down you stupid beast! I clucked my tongue! You're not suppose to go this AHHHH!" she screamed as a tree missed her head by half an inch. She glanced back at it, and held on helplessly as the horse kept running.

" Stupid creature! Stop!" She kicked it hard, yanking on its reins. But unfortunately since the girl was not all that tall, she also was not all that strong. The creature reacted only to her kicking, speeding up. Why hadn't she listened to the stupid Prince! The Stupid beast was running off with her, instead of the other way around. Pounding along the forest floor at top speed, the animal was beginning to get frightened. It was used to only the Prince riding him, who had trained him all his commands, and whinnied, keeping up his pace, unsure of what to do. The girl watched hopelessly as they came up to a cave.

" Stop it, you bloody over grown donkey!" she yelled again. The horse ignored her. It wasn't going to stop most likely until she was down in that cave with all the bloody Goblins in Frell. Before she could lose her nerve, she threw herself off the great horse onto the hill. I jump off an insane horse only to drown. Oh dash it all, why do I choose a hill to throw myself on of all things? As she tumbled down it, the girl splashed into an angry river, something sharp hitting her thigh. She realized it was the River Lucarno, near the Palace of Frell. It was not the peaceful, running river she remembered. Or at least not this part. The girl was tossed from left to right, kicking frantically to the surface. The river angrily roared as if something was clogging it up. One thing the girl was, was a strong swimmer, thanks to years of swimming in the peaceful currents. She pulled herself up for a gulp of air, but was forced almost immediately back under. It sucked her down even further. Out of the corner of her eye, through all the currents and sharp rocks, she saw a flash of material. Someone pulled her up. She spat out the river water, but was sucked back down with whoever had pulled her up in the first place. She swam up again, gulping in air, and managing to see who had rescued her before she was taken back under before she could say anything. As she came back up again, she shouted at him

" Your stupid horse almost killed me! And why are" she was pulled back under again, glaring at Robert.

" What are you doing here?" she yelled at him. Somehow through out the current, he managed to yell back.

" I'm rescuing you and trying to find my god damn horse!" They were both taken back under again. " I don't need rescuing!" she yelled back, over the roar of the river.

" Do you actually believe that delicate little you is going to get back to the shore?" Her eyes blazed.

" You pig! " she kicked him, and swam away, kicking with a new energy. Climbing her way to the surface, she managed to get onto the shore. Smiling with satisfaction, she glanced in the river. She didn't see him. Well, good riddance she thought to herself. As she started to walk away, suddenly a horrible thought gripped her. If Robert died, she had no way how to find her way back to the camp. Her old home was miles, miles away from the River Lucarno. Last time she had swam in the river Lucarno---- well, she didn't want to go there. And besides, Robert wasn't that bad. Once you got past his ego, his egotistical horse, his hunting, etc. She chewed on her nails, and looked in the water. Still no sign of him. He would come up in a second. He was a perfectly good swimmer if he had managed to pull both her and himself up to the surface. It wasn't as if he had hit his head on a rock. But she had kicked him.

" Dash it all." she murmured, took a deep breath, and with a graceful dive, went smoothly into the water. As the currents tossed her around, she looked for Robert. She felt some cloth. Hoping against hope that she'd be able to get them both up, she kicked like mad. Oh Dash it all, please, just let me be able to pull both of us up she wished like mad. And suddenly, she wasn't kicking anymore. Something was pushing her up. Something was pushing up both her and Robert. Before she could think twice about it, she was shoved onto the sloped shore. The girl spat out water, then looked to see what had saved them. Sitting prettily on the shore, sat a mermaid with long, silky maroon hair, smiling at them.

" He should wake up in about a moment or so." she bubbled sweetly, the blinked. With a whip of her tail, she disappeared, as if she had never been there. The girl stared in amazement. Then she remembered she had to deal with Robert.

" Well, we haven't got a moment." she told the unconscious Robert, and kicked him swiftly. He jerked awake, coughing up river water. He glanced up at the girl, remembered that she had almost killed him, and glared at her.

" What the hell was that back there?" he demanded.

" You called me a delicate and little and doubted my swimming skills."

" You were drowning before I got there! Admit it!" The girl just glared at him, deciding to ignore the truth.

" Well, what can I say? The first bloody thing you ask me when you jump in is where your stupid horse is!"

" You don't know where she is?"

" Of course not! I jumped off him! What's wrong? I mean, you had to get here somehow, we'll just take your horse back! You've brought this upon yourself!" she told him angrily. He shook his head.

" My horse, happens to be Sir James's. It ran off apparently while I was diving in after you!" They both glared at each other in silence for a moment. Then, without a warning, the girl burst into a loud, tinkling, musical laughter. The Prince stared at her. After nearly killing him, she was laughing? It wasn't really a laugh though. It almost sounded like a music of its own, completely filled with joy. It sounded like a bubbling stream, a rainbow, a lute, and every single goddamn pleasant thing he could think of. When she stopped, she looked at him and said matter of fact,

" My name is Anniya. And you have a dead fish in your hair."